Lets take a look at a few of the requirements needed to run a parallel port interface with Mach3.

32Bit Windows 7, (2000, Vista, XP)

Integrated EPP parallel port

This means that most laptops and 64 bit desktops can't use the parallel port features of Mach3. You must offload the actual Gcode processing to a device like the SmoothStepper or UC100.

In addition, many PC's with parallel ports can run really rough. I found it like rolling the dice. I have had machines that just purred like kittens when connected to a particular PC. Then when connected to another, they sound like they were going to vibrate apart. I have never been able to get to the exact reason, but I'm sure it has to do with timing.

While both the SmoothStepper and UC100 will work, I found the UC100 to be cheaper and the easiest to install and use. Here I will show you how to install the software, hookup the controller.

With the drivers supplied by CNCDrive, you can control your KRMx02 with just about any machine, as long as it has a USB port.

I have successfully tested the UC100 and Mach3 on the following machines and OS's: